cover image Skinny Dipping

Skinny Dipping

Janet Lembke. Lyons Press, $21.95 (196pp) ISBN 978-1-55821-274-9

Her theme is water, and Lembke ( Dangerous Birds ) takes us from the River Styx to the subantarctic island clusters of New Zealand, from an 18th-century survey to find the source of the Rappahannock River to the Luray Caverns of Virginia. With a friend she paddles up a narrow creek on a torrid afternoon; she plays host to a group of sailing campers marooned by wind. One essay remembers a favorite uncle and his love of the Bullpasture River in western Virginia; another describes a walk with Sally Doberman, the family dog. Lembke blends classical allusions with acute observations of people and places; her graceful essays, most of which are published here for the first time, are sheer pleasure to read. This may be her best collection to date. (Sept.)